Where to live around Tulsa?

LanaBanana · Apr 4, 2006

I've lived in Tulsa for 5 years now and love it. If you want to be in the Tulsa area, but not Tulsa proper, the out-lying areas are Owasso(growing very quickly, but I hear that housing prices are still relatively low), Broken Arrow, Jenk, Bixby. Those are the areas that I know of that have the better schools. There are others, but I'm not as familiar with them so hopefully someone else can tell you more. If you already have a bachelor's degree in another field, I would recommend checking in to OU-Tulsa's program for an accelerated program. You would still need all the science pre-reqs (can take at TCC or Rogers State) but can complete it faster. Here's the link http://nursing.ouhsc.edu/Prospective_Students/Program_Information/AccBSNProgram.htm

You have to be an OK resident for 1 year to qualify for instate tuition. You probably have most of the non-science prereqs if you already have a degree. At TCC, non-resident tuition is around $175/hour. I'm taking some of my science classes online (they include a lab!) through a college in Kansas. They only charge $125/hour, regardless of residency. You should know that TCC and Rogers both require you to take Biology for Majors or Zoology before you can take Anatomy, Physiology, and Micro. The Kansas online classes do not.

Langston University-Tulsa also has a BSN program, but they don't offer the accelerated program.

Feel free to pm me anytime. I've done a lot of research on all the programs around here! I'm starting a LPN program in May and then doing the LPN-BSN bridge program with OU.

prissy pixie · Apr 4, 2006

Hi, CAMeadors

I live in Bartlesville:

http://www.bartlesville.com/visitors/

...which is directly north of Tulsa on 75. I attend TCC, in Tulsa, as a Nursing Applicant. It takes me 35-40 minutes to get to school but is worth it to me to live in B'ville. It's a smaller community of 30,000 but we have all the extras...restaurant chains...mall (including Dillards, Gap, Bath & Body Works)...country clubs...antique shops...civic ballet...choral society...symphony orchestra, museums etc. The town is owned by Wal-Mart & Phillips 66 so all the executives made sure the amenities were there. Yet, the down home Mayberry life exists. We also benefit from having one of the best public school districts in Oklahoma.

I just wanted to give you another option~

kaytekayte, would you mind telling me which school, in Kansas, you're taking the online classes through? It sounds like an excellent option! Thanks :)

LanaBanana · Apr 5, 2006

kaytekayte, would you mind telling me which school, in Kansas, you're taking the online classes through? It sounds like an excellent option! Thanks :)

I'm going through Edukan http://www.edukan.org With it, you choose one of the 6 colleges in the consortium and receive credit through them. I'm getting my credit through Barton County Community College. You should know that Barton requires a previous Biology class as a prereq, but through Colby you can take the science classes without a previous bio credit. They offer a TON of general ed classes. (click on "courses" on the left and then view by subject to get an idea of the options). The nice thing about these classes is that although they are online, your transcript doesn't mention anything about them being online, so you never even have to mention to TCC that you took them online (some schools balk at taking lab sciences online)! You should check with them to make sure they will accept the credit from whichever school you decide to go through. They're all accredited though, so it shouldn't be a problem. OU said they will accept my credit. They offer A&P1 and A&P2 instead of having them separate, and as long as you take them both, they should accept that for both Anatomy and Physiology. Micro is almost completely online, but requires you to go to GreatBend, KS twice during the semester for lab. The other labs are done online. If you can find a school or hospital that will allow you to do the labs there, you can skip the trip to KS. I'm currently in A&P1, am taking Chem this summer at TCC (thought I need to actually be IN class for that one!) and the hopefully A&P2 and Micro in the fall, but will have to wait and see on that because I'm also starting the LPN program and want to see how heavy my workload is with that.

booklovinrn · Apr 5, 2006

Thanks so much for the info. The accelerated RN program sounds really interesting but kind of intimidating. Is anyone currently in it or survived it?

babynurselsa, RN · Apr 5, 2006

I live in Owasso. You can be at the downtown TCC campus in 20 minutes. It is a great community, growing rapidly. We will have 2 small community hospitals opening this year. There are a number of programs locally that you can investigate TCC, RSU, OU-Tulsa, Langston just to name some of them.

NE Ok is a great place to live.

LanaBanana · Apr 5, 2006

Thanks so much for the info. The accelerated RN program sounds really interesting but kind of intimidating. Is anyone currently in it or survived it?

Busymomof6 is supposed to be starting it soon I think. She has a post in the Oklahoma forum titled "Hi oklahoma!" You could pm her and probably get some info!

Good luck! By the way, what brings you to Tulsa?

booklovinrn · Apr 5, 2006

It's kind of a strange story that brings us to Tulsa. My husband is an airline pilot. We currently live in the Atlanta area and for many reasons we are ready for a change. If he still has a job after April 15 (if they don't strike),he has decided it is worth it to commute. We literally took a map and tried to find nice places that are no more than an afternoon's drive from both of our aging parents, mine are in Arkansas and his in Lawton, OK. We had always heard nice things about Tulsa and figured it might be a good compromise.

Thanks so much for all your information and advice.

dottimur · Jul 8, 2006

Did you move to the Tulsa area? I live in Owasso and I LOVE it here. Schools are great. Jenks schools are good as well. Tulsa Public does not have a reputation for being very good. There are definitely spots in Tulsa you want to avoid. PM me if you want my opinion.

rosiegal · Jul 30, 2006

I know this is late for this reply, but I must say that Tulsa Public Schools are some of the best in the nation! We have lived in Dallas, Austin, and Atlanta and I can say from personal experience of actually having my kids in Tulsa Public Schools (not just saying "what I've heard), that this school district really knows what it is doing! What makes us different from Owasso and Jenks? Money. However, our recently retired superintedent created a "schools of choice" program in which schools were allowed to create independent programs with different types of strengths. Tulsa children have the "choice" to go to the type of school that fits their individual learning style. To give one example-one of our elementary schools patterns itself in the traditional "Montessori" style of learning, which is usually private. It's expensive to send your kids to private, so this is a real luxury being a public school. The children are not in "grades" but are group together and learn at their own pace. What's funny is I don't know of any Jenks or Owasso parents that know about this school; however, they all say how bad our schools are. Their loss-our gain. There are many more types of schools in TPS that really shine. The big kicker is that they are small! (ours has 200 students pre-K through 5th grade). The principals usually know every child by first name and their parent's first names as well!

Also, if you are looking for one of the top public high schools in the nation (check out Newsweek's article) then look to Booker T. Washington. It's a fabulous Tulsa Public School!

I am not here to put down Jenks or Owasso schools. Just want to share the good news of Tulsa Public Schools and encourage those moving here to take a deep look. We may be "urban" but we pack a lot of bang for the buck!

LanaBanana · Jul 30, 2006

Funny you should mention this...there was an article about this in the Tulsa People magazine that I was reading tonight. I didn't get all the way through it though. Which elementary school lets kids work at their own pace? Does this mean that a gifted student could essentially skip a grade because they could move through the material faster? My roommate teaches at a TPS middle school and she says it's definately making improvements. She says they have probably 70% hispanic, some are English Language learners, but many are fluent in English. It's one of the lowest in the city on scores, but they've had consistent improvement. I think each school in TPS seems to have its own culture and goal, which is good because it is tailored for the needs of the students they serve.